In the early half of April 2012, News headlines all over the world screamed- ‘Miss Universe pageant to allow transgender contestants’
Different reactions from various parts of the world poured in, with some expressing outrage, some commenting on its implications on the other so called ‘normal’ contestants and others commenting on the very validity of the pageant. In one of the websites that carried the news, a user commented- “The contest is already full of fake breasts, what's the big deal about one fake vagina?”
The comment and many others that followed, though sometimes hilarious enough to tickle the driest of bones, raised some poignant queries too. One reader asked if a transgender qualified why there was an age limit on the pageant. How one was related to the other is anyone’s guess and raises the question that is the entire hullabaloo because a transgender till today does not have an accepted place in society?
No one knows where they fit in?
On a different note, do you think that the reactions would be the same if the pageant authorities were to announce that the sexual preference of a contestant is not a criterion for the pageant. In other words, bi-sexual s, homosexuals and lesbians are all welcome to join the pageant, would seem like a silly announcement that need not have been made. But the same is not the case, when one talks of allowing transgender s into the contest.
Amidst the myriad reactions that pour in and the official statements that harp on promotion of equality amongst women of every type, one wonders if the officials and women world -wide would come to a consensus regarding one basic question-
"Does a beauty pageant, whether it is called Ms World OR Ms Universe, or anything for that matter, promote or help advance the cause of girls, or that of women?" If the answer is a thumping yes, maybe this move of allowing a transgender would take on a dimension that would give the pageant a different meaning altogether?
But if women world over aren’t really sure if a pageant of this sort can really make a difference in their lives, one can’t help but wonder if the pageant has reached a place where people really don’t care who wins, it’s just another means of getting a ticket to the international beauty scene, with a few film offers thrown in?
piakaghar.com
livenri.com
Frankly I don't understand
Frankly I don't understand the relevance of such pageants to the people other than being another show to watch on TV. To the organizers and the beauty industry it is a commercial venture. I don't care if transgenders, transvestites, cross dressers all take part in the pageant :)
Why?
Dissociation of mind and body is essential... Body is not the sole producer of identity..
Soumobroto
Do away with the pageant!
What I would really like to hear is the news that beauty pageants have been done away with altogether:) if they have to exist, I see no reason why transgenders should be excluded.
Beauty with Brains.
Its written very well, Maitreyee. But, with size zero being such a rage, sometimes its difficult to differentiate between who is a genuine contestant and who isn't. I also love this beauty with brains thingie wow wow wow.
Soumitra
"Beauty"...measurement does
"Beauty"...measurement does need a new scale...as for the betterment of womankind ...I think these pageants have nothing to do with it...
Beauty has no real measuring
Beauty has no real measuring stick, I guess, it would need more than a correct figure and a hip swinging walk to qualify as real and true beauty. On the topic for enhancement of womanhood, these pageants do absolutely nothing, who ever they allow into it. Woman in broader sense is still a show piece however you put it. May sound rude but still true. Few and far understand the difference, so who are allowed into these pageants really does it matter?
Anumita Chatterjee Roy (Moon)
Beauty is not a rule that governs the Universe
.. at least not the surface based physical kind anyway.. so going off the title of this awesome piece by Maitreyee, my simple take on this topic is we need to reformat the criteria we have for these contests if we continue to hold them. The world is and should become more inclusive of differences rather than make the absence of handicaps seem like a right to exclusivity. Today transgender, tomorrow someone with a physical handicap, etc.. there are so many reasons we are fragmented as a human race.. if these contests become more reasons to accentuate them, where is the beauty ? Make it all about human achievement and accomplishments and maybe we will find better role models for our children in this lifetime, without having to turn the pages of history..
Why is the mind so confused?
We call ourselves well educated, open minded and then when faced with situations like these, the truth comes out - that we are still chained to the age old dogmas of beauty. Every little girl born in the 80s am sure has had the dream to be Miss Universe as a kid and has also played the game in schools and at home. I distinctly remember one such game where the final question used to be - What would you do if you became Miss Universe - any answer which did not have world peace, development or Mother Teresa was not a winning one - original is not beautiful. Then came the barbie age - if you did not look like her -sadly you never had the chance to play the game - fat is not beautiful.
Now this I wonder? "Normalcy" is to be redefined again? Should now games be lined with the question - how would you prove a mark in the pageant if you were/ were not normal? A Beauty pageant like this should not just be skin deep - and if this happens I think beneath the reactions there will be acceptance - acceptance of all that tags we have marked as deviant. It's about true beauty right? lets change a few rules to have a healthy game :)
How is this relevant ?
Frankly, beauty pageants are such pea-brain events and people who follow them, debate on them and worry about them are no better. Probably either they have nothing better to do. These contests create discriminations and give good looking youngsters an unnecessary edge over others, which is not good for either of them. So many youngsters today are misled by the lure of "alternative " professions and end up as drug addicts , suicidal (failed) models, exploited by one and all. I think that these pageants go up as a country starts seeing the first streaks of affluence and when the youth have disposable time and money in hand to indulge in them. Also this is another big biz model of the West after War. Pick a country which seems to be sitting on some idle dough, make that country win a beauty pageant and create opportunities for your corporations to go there and peddle their wares to kids in their impressionable years and also to frustrated mid life ladies and gentlemen desparately trying to cling on to their fading youth and depleting hormones. In all, a very shallow subject.
regards, A
Post new comment